Smile For Me
by MissLe
Summary: Sasuke had never liked smiling. Smiling meant showing emotion, which meant he was weak. Prodigies never laughed or smiled. Which was fine with him until that one seemingly uneventful day where Kakashi neglected to show up yet again... [SasuHina]
1. Groceries

**Smile For Me**

Sasuke had never liked smiling. Smiling meant being happy, which meant showing emotion, which meant he was weak. Prodigies never laughed or smiled. They _brooded_ and thought about why they would make better shinobis than the other useless fools who considered themselves ninjas. They thought about their crummy family (or lack thereof in Sasuke's case), they didn't waste time liking things, or even _pretending_ to like things.

This suited Sasuke just perfectly, he had never liked anything with a passion before, until that seemingly uneventful day where Kakashi had yet again had neglected to show up…

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"Where is he this time?" Naruto whined and snapped his stick that he had previously been using to draw bowls of ramen in the sand with.

"Shut up, Naruto! He's probably on important Jounin business that he forgot to tell us about!" Sakura smacked Naruto harshly across the top of his head. Normally she would have agreed with the irritating blond, but she didn't want to seem too whiny in front of Sasuke.

"Why did you hit me Sakura?" Naruto whined loudly and clutched his throbbing head.

"I said _shut up_, Naruto! Can't you tell that Sasuke-kun is trying to sleep?" Sakura smacked him again, making Naruto howl in pain.

Sasuke did nothing except twitch his eyebrow, he wasn't exactly trying to sleep, just resting (and plotting several different and gruesome revenge plots for his older, dearest brother). But if that kept the two idiots quiet, he would happily lie there for an eternity as if he were dead.

"Sakura, why are you so mean to me?" Naruto complained noisily, earning him yet another bruise for his already outstanding collection.

"Stop talking, you're such an idiot!"

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched yet again, the noise level the two other ninjas on his team created was at such an amazingly excessive level that he couldn't help but wonder why they didn't just get it all over with and start dating. To him they seemed like a perfect couple, they were both unnecessarily loud, they were bright (in both attitude and appearance), showed off--to the point of extremity--for their objects of affection, and Sakura seemed like the only kunoichi capable of handling (though not necessarily tolerating…) Naruto.

Finally after much bickering between Sakura and Naruto, Sasuke abruptly stood up from where he was lying and began walking away from the training grounds, startling the two squabbling ninjas.

Sakura was the first one to speak up, "Sasuke-kun, where are you going?"

"Ichiraku's." This was an outright lie, he just didn't want to have Sakura and Naruto following him to his real objective.

"'Ichiraku's'?" Naruto shot his hand up into the air, "Yes! I will most definitely come with you!" He bounded away from Sakura and towards Sasuke, grinning like the blissful moron he was.

"M-me too!" No way was Sakura going to give up a chance to hang out with Sasuke when it had absolutely nothing to do with training or missions. Hell, it was almost like a _date_. The thought of a date with Sasuke almost made her swoon.

"I never asked for you two to come." Sasuke seethed through gritted teeth, couldn't they take a hint? He wanted to be alone, dammit. He didn't even want to get ramen. Yet, Sakura and Naruto were still caught up in their little fantasies about ramen and Sasuke, totally oblivious to what he had just finished saying.

"Fine." That got the two's attention, Sasuke agreed to them tagging along with him? "You guys go get your ramen first, I have to take care of something first." He quickly ran off in the exact opposite direction of Ichiraku's before either of them could object.

He wasn't quite sure where he was heading, he could possibly grab a bite to eat, he hadn't had breakfast that morning because of Kakashi's early morning call to the training grounds. Which he had of course forgotten to show up for.

He finally arrived at a small teahouse he had been willing to try out earlier, but had never been able to due to Naruto always dragging him off to Ichiraku's. It had a cozy, traditional feel to it, small low set tables were scattered about in the tiny room, separated by plain paper screens.

"Hello, may I help you?" A young waitress no older than seventeen smiled down at him, "Is there a certain table you'd like to sit at? It's a rather slow time for us right now, so we just let our customers sit where they want and----"

Sasuke just walked past her mutely towards a table, leaving her standing there open jawed and mumbling to her co-worker about rude little kids. But seriously, did he ask for her life story? No, he didn't. After ordering up something to eat and a cup of green tea, he sat in silence, slowly sipping his tea.

A loud clatter was heard from behind the screen next to him making him almost spill the tea all over his lap.

"Ah! I'm so sorry, Hinata! Did I burn you?" That seemed to be the dog boy's voice, what was his name? Siba? Kima? Kiba. That's right.

"Ah…n-no, Kiba-kun…" The quiet voice of the Hyuuga heiress sounded through his ears. What would they be doing here? Couldn't the heiress find somewhere more…classy than this teahouse to eat?

"Be more careful next time, Kiba." A sigh was heard, "Geez, you're far too hyper. Did he get your coat stained, Hinata-chan?" Sasuke recognized this voice as Yuuhi Kurenai, the other jounin that he suspected that Kakashi had a crush on.

"N-no, it can be sent to th-the drycleaners'." The Hyuuga again.

"Hinata." Shino, that was…the bug boy, right? "I apologize for this, but my father's just sent me a message saying I have to get home as soon as possible, it's urgent." A small bug flew past Sasuke, frightening him so badly he began to choke on his tea.

"Oh…of c-course, I understand." Shino silently got up from his seat and for a moment commenced a short glaring contest between him and Sasuke as he walked past the young wannabe avenger towards the exit.

Several minutes later, another loud clatter was heard, "Shi--er…I mean, shoot! My mom had told me she was going to make me clean all thirty-seven of the kennels at the vet's if I didn't get home on time for lunch, I'm so sorry, Hinata!" Damn, that kid was almost as loud as Naruto.

Hinata giggled, "I-it's okay, I understand th-that the kennels aren't a ve-very pleasant place…"

"Thanks, Hinata. Come on, Akamaru!" A bark was issued form the small dog that had jumped out in front of Sasuke's table to wait for his owner who ran backwards, bowing and shouting, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Over and over again.

"Hehe, I guess it's just us girls, eh Hinata?" A small, uneasy chuckle was heard from Kurenai.

"I-I guess so…"

A whizzing sound flew passed Sasuke's nose, missing him by centimetres and scaring him so terribly that he actually did spill his tea all over his meal. It was a kunai that flew right through the paper screen that separated Sasuke from Hinata and her sensei and embedded itself right between the two kunoichi.

"Hmm? What's this? There seems to be a note…" Sasuke watched through the tear in the screen caused by the kunai as Kurenai untied a small scroll that was attached to the kunai. Her eyebrows were starting to knit together as she finished reading through it, "Oh, Hinata, you don't know how much I hate having to say this, Kakashi just summoned me to his place to gather for a meeting concerning our next mission. I'm so sorry." So Sakura was right, that little bastard actually _was_ working…

"I-it's fine. It's for the g-good of our v-village, right?"

"Hinata-chan, you're too kind. The boys and I will try to make it up to you, okay?" Kurenai wrapped her arms around Hinata, then disappeared in a miniature whirlwind of leaves.

**FINALLY**. They all left, leaving Sasuke with a deep feeling of relief, he could finally eat his meal in peace. Well, after he had ordered a knew meal, his current one was still soaking from his tea. At least the Hyuuga was quiet enough to leave him alone.

"Ah…S-Sasuke-san?"

Or not.

Sasuke looked up to see Hinata wringing her hands together nervously. Please, please, _please_ don't say that she was going to turn into a rabid fan girl and confess her undying love to him, she was one of the very few girls in Konoha didn't dream about being Mrs. Sasuke Uchiha, "What?" he barked rudely at her.

"I--um, I was w-wondering if it w-would be okay with y-you if I sat w-with you…?" She seemed more like she was questioning herself rather than him.

"Why?"

She gave him a confused look, obviously she thought he was going to give her a straight yes or no answer, "Well, b-because I w-want to be a-able to sit and eat with s-someone…today."

He realized she had said 'someone' instead of 'you', so stared her down for a second. She didn't seem like she would suddenly attempt to hug/touch/kiss/ him, so just put up three fingers, "Three conditions. I am _not_ paying for your meal. Don't bother me. And stop stuttering."

Her face broke into a grin, she was almost…cu--no. Prodigies _never_ thought that girls were cute. And no, prodigies did not think that _guys_ were cute either, "Thank you very m-mu….very much, Sasuke-san." Her voice was very soft, almost melodic.

He made no response except a loud slurp of tea, so much for wanting to be all alone today. It went for like this for several minutes, Hinata would almost say something to, but would back off at the last moment and fiddle with her napkin while Sasuke kept drinking endless amounts of tea. His bladder must have been larger than the ocean.

"Um…Sasuke-san, how is your team doing?" Sasuke couldn't help but twitch his eyebrow, had he not been a ninja with excellent hearing, he never would have her extremely faint voice.

"He--they're doing fine." He said curtly. He knew the real translation to her question was 'how is _Naruto_ doing?'. It was a well-known fact that the Hyuuga heiress had an undying love for the stupid blond. Sasuke had never figured out why. Naruto was loud to the point of ear splitting, while Hinata was quiet to the point of mute, the poor girl would probably go deaf after being around him too long. He was also rambunctious and outgoing, while she was really quite…shy.

"That's good. Have you guys had any…missions lately?" Hinata asked politely, finally putting down the napkin that had by then ripped to shreds.

"No."

"Oh, is--is your sensei well?"

He shrugged, "I guess, if he had enough energy to wake us up at such an ungodly hour to train but never show up himself."

She let out a small laugh, "It seems your sensei is quite the character." Sasuke wondered why she didn't laugh more, she had a nice laugh. But just because it was nice didn't mean he liked it, of course.

"I guess." Sasuke wasn't one for small talk, in fact, he _hated_ it. It was usually forced and awkward, making him feel slightly inadequate. He took a breath, "Listen, you don't have to force yourself to talk to me, I'd actually prefer if you just kept quiet." There, simple and blunt, she should understand that.

"Oh, I--I'm sorry, Sasuke-san." She seemed a bit taken aback, but remained quiet nonetheless. It was a rather awkward meal for Sasuke, he didn't really want to, or even know _how_ to converse freely with other people. He guessed Hinata didn't either, but for some reason, she actually seemed to want to open up.

"Um…Sas--Sasuke-san, please excuse me, I have to go buy groceries. Thank you for having lunch with me." She stood up and bowed deeply to him.

Groceries? Groceries…right. He was in serious need of laundry soap, he had been neglecting to buy it all week. To him, the grocery store was hell. Girls were always 'accidentally' running their carts into his, or 'accidentally' brushing their hands against his when reaching for some food item. He shuddered, as much as he hated the grocery store, he also hating wearing the same clothes more than one day in a row.

He watched Hinata as she paid her bill to the waitress. Maybe she could…? Nah. Well…it could work…she could possibly pose as a…as a what? Definitely not$- a girlfriend. A friend? An acquaintance? It didn't matter, as long as she was there, girls would assume he was taken and leave him alone and he could get his laundry soap in peace. But he'd have to act fast, Hinata's retreating figure was getting farther and farther away.

"Ah…Hinata!" Sasuke quickly slammed some bills onto the table and ran out the door to where Hinata had turned around at the calling of her name.

"Yes…?"

"I--uh…" How was he going to say it out loud? Come with me to the grocery store so that I don't get raped by crazy fan girls? The whole plan had sounded so much better in his head, "I--I have to get groceries too."

She smiled brightly at him, "Y-you're welcome to come with me if you want." He nodded and gave her a grunt in response.

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Sasuke blinked at Hinata as they exited the supermarket, the girl had piles and piles of bags heaped on top of her. It was almost laughable, this small, petite girl drowning in heavy, grocery filled plastic bags that looked like they were about to make her topple over.

"Well, I'm off." Sasuke flipped his small bag of laundry soap over his shoulder and began walking off in the direction of the Uchiha manor.

"W-wait!" Hinata called to him making him stop momentarily in his tracks. She put down a few grocery bags so it was easier for her talk, "W-would y-you mind---"

"What?" He snapped, he really hoped she wasn't asking for him to help take her grocery back to her house for three reasons:

1) He _hated_ the Hyuuga manor, whenever he came within a fifty metre radius of it, evil glares would be sent his way, sending cold shivers up his spine every time.

2) The Hyuuga manor was located all the way on the other side of Konoha.

3) It was getting_ really_ cold out and his fingers were already freezing as it was.

"Uhm…n-never mind…S-Sasuke-san." She picked up her bags and began to stagger like a drunk off in the direction of the Hyuuga manor. Sasuke shrugged and began walking off to his house, it was time to wash those week-old clothes that were lying, hidden underneath his bed.

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**Hm….I was originally planning just a one shot, but it would be too long of a one shot, so it'll be a two or three shot.**

**By the way, this is NOT after the time skip, the whole gang is still about thirteen or so.**

**Ciao,**

**MissLe**


	2. Training

**Chapter 2**

Sasuke patted his hands together to clap off all the non-existent dirt. Finally, he was finished. Every last shirt, pair of pants or shorts, sock, boxer, or any other item of clothing that might have been neglected to mention was washed, dried, and carefully folded to be put away.

The phone rang, knocking Sasuke out of his sense of accomplishment and into reality. Striding quickly over to the small table in which it sat on, he picked up with an impatient, "Hello?"

"Ah…so the great Sasuke finally decides to deign to speak with us lowly mortals." Kakashi's voice rang through Sasuke's ear, making him grind his teeth in aggravation, "See, Naruto, I told you that he would be at home. Cough up those five ryos."

"What the hell do you want, Kakashi? Aren't you supposed to be at some sort of meeting with Kurenai?" What a hypocrite this man was, _he_ was the one who had forgotten/neglected to show up to meet with his team.

"Ah…that. Well, er…that didn't turn out exactly as planned, Kurenai---hey, that's restricted jounin business, how did you know about that?" His voice was a slightly higher pitch, as if he was flustered.

"Never mind. What do you want?"

"To train of course, that's why I called you over to the training grounds this morning, silly."

So he _hadn__'__t_ forgotten about it, he just didn't show. Sasuke gave a resigned sigh, "Whatever. I'll be there in a few minutes. And don't call me something as stupid as 'silly'."

"Of course, you densely, unintelligent pig."

After that phenomenal slam that Sasuke had bestowed on his phone, Kakashi never could quite hear as well anymore from his right ear.

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Sasuke sat and sat. And sat. And sat some more. Kakashi _still_ wasn't there, nor was Sakura or Naruto. Picking up a stone, he hurled it with precise aim at the tree that was before him, imagining the trunk to be Kakashi's face.

He shivered and got up from the ground. _Damn_ it was cold, his fingers were so numb he was sure they were about to turn blue. Might as well train to warm up. He extracted several shuriken from his ankle pouch and flung it at the large wooden dummy that Naruto had hung up, which suspiciously looked somewhat like a…fox.

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After much vigorous training, Sasuke collapsed onto the his knees, panting. Screw Kakashi, he could train just as well--if not better--on his own. He lied down on his back and watched the cloudy sky in mild interest, he hated Konoha winters, they were always so cold.

Grunting and panting could be heard over his already loud breathing, who could be crazy enough to be training in this cold? Well, other than himself, avengers had to keep their body in good shape after all. Sitting up, he looked through a small clearing of trees where he could faintly make out a petite figure training. Giving into his curiosity, Sasuke stealthily leaped through trees to get a closer look at the other figure training.

A thick hood was kept over their head, obstructing his view of who it might be. No other clue was given as to the trainer's identity other than the fact that they pushed themselves to the limit to train, blood poured from their hands as they slammed their palms to the wooden posts forcefully.

After watching the other ninja train for a few minutes, another figure emerged from the woods, this one seemingly female. She put her hands on her hips and bent forward to yell angrily at the training shinobi, "_You_!"

The figure turned to stare at the angry girl and removed their hood, it was the Hyuuga, the one that he had lunch with, "Y-yes?"

The other girl stormed up to Hinata, her dull brown eyes flaming, "How _dare_ you get so close to Sasuke-kun? What have _you_ ever done to deserve him? He's absolutely untouchable, yet you're pushing yourself at him to grocery shop with him. Do you think you're that good to be worthy of him? Is it because you're a Hyuuga that you think you can just take him like that? Stop being so conceited."

Sasuke groaned inwardly, it was one of his fan girls…time to go. It was Hinata's stuttering that prevented him from leaping off his branch and away to safety, "I-I'm sorry, I-I don't qu-quite understand…" A thunderous slap resounded through the training grounds making Sasuke grind his teeth together.

"Listen you---" The girl started up another lecture.

"There you are Hinata-_chan_."

Both the girls turned around to see none other than Sasuke Uchiha himself, "I've been looking for you." He walked closer and roughly grabbed her hand, "We were supposed to go on our _date_, remember?"

"Wh-what? P-pardon, Sasuke-san? I--I d-don't reca----"

"What happened to your face?" He cupped her cheek that had been slapped in his hand, causing it to turn an even darker shade of red, "And why are you training when it's so cold out?" He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest, "You'll get sick." He murmured into her thick hair.

"What?" The girl opposite of them stared at him in utter confusion and shock, "I--"

"Get lost." He snarled and dragged Hinata off to the training ground that he had previously been training at. Once he was sure that the girl was gone, he dropped Hinata's hand as if it had been on fire.

"Um…E-excuse me, Sas-Sasuke-san, wh-what was that all a-about?" She timidly brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear and wrapped an arm around her stomach.

Sasuke looked at her from the corner of his eye, from her body language he could tell that she was trying to close herself up. Finally turning in her direction, he gazed at the tree behind her shoulder, determined not to look at her, "All that meant _nothing_. Nothing at all, so don't get your hopes up, I just felt bad because it was my fault." It _was_ his fault, she had done nothing but protect him from crazy girls who displayed an unhealthy crush on him, who had in turn ganged up on her. "And because your family would beat me until the new decade if they found out it was my fault."

She gave an uneasy chuckle, she was still uncomfortable with his previous closeness, "Th-thank you for protecting m-me." She finally made eye contact with him and smiled, "You'd m-make a good a-actor."

He shrugged, in truth, he actually hadn't minded as much as he normally would've, she didn't try to take advantage of the situation, she actually tried to get out of it instead. He turned away from her and began walking home, at least she had warmed him up with the embrace.

"Ah…W-wait!"

Sasuke turned around to the small brunette who had scampered up behind him, "I re-really am in y-your debt, aren't I?" She gave an unsure smile, "Y-you had eaten lunch w-with me, _and_ helped me ea-earlier." She fiddled with her sipper uncomfortably, "S-So don't hesitate t-to ask of anything from m-me, okay?"

He gazed at her, she seemed honest enough, too honest really, "I won't." His gaze flickered down to her hands which were bleeding madly, "You really should get those bandaged. You could faint, or even die from blood loss."

She looked down at them as if she hadn't realized they were bleeding at all, "O-oh. I don't have a-any bandages…"

Sasuke sighed in frustration, "Give me your arm."

"E-excuse me?"

"Do you want me to bandage them or not?" He roughly jerked out several bandages from his pocket to show to her.

"Oh, I-I…o-okay." She hesitantly drew out her arm for him to take into his hands.

"As a ninja, you should really keep some with you at all times." He gripped her arm probably more tightly than necessary, she winced but said nothing, intent on not complaining to him. Her arms were soft and warm, more warm than they should have been in the dead of winter. He mentally slapped his self, he didn't just say _soft_ did he?

"Um…S-Sasuke-san, your lip seems t-to be bleeding…" She pointed with her other hand to his lip that was slowly trickling blood.

Oh. He had bitten his lip hard enough when he was reprimanding himself that it had begun to bleed, "It's nothing." He quickly wiped the blood away with the back of his wrist and continued wrapping her arm.

"I-I can take o-over now." She said quietly and flexed her fingers.

"What? You don't think I can bandage properly?" This girl had a lot of nerve…

"No!" She cried out in horror, "No! I--well, it s-seems that I'm bothering you…" She mumbled and nervously wrung her fingers together.

"I'll finish what I've started." He grumbled and snatched her hand back, why was it he always felt compelled to help her? He gritted his teeth, it was because--as much as he hated to admit it--deep down he was a real softie. He hated the weak, but he hated the weak because he felt so sympathetic at their pathetic attempts to (for the most part) improve. Avengers weren't supposed to be sympathetic, avengers weren't supposed to be anything but avengers.

After he had finished carefully wrapping both of her arms and hands, he stood up and went over to the hung up dummy to pluck all the shuriken and kunai out of it.

"Th-thank you once again." she looked at her hands in what seemed to be disgust, "I am now even m-more in you debt." She looked at him and grinned shyly, "You're quite…nice."

Shurikens flew past Hinata, missing her by a hair and frightening her so badly she dropped to her knees. Sasuke stormed over to her and stared her down, "If you tell _anybody_ about this, I'll break every bone in your body." Her eyes widened in fear and she gulped nervously, nodding nonetheless. Good. The girl was scared of him, at least she wouldn't get any ideas.

As he walked away, not bothering to pick up the shurikens and kunai that he had thrown at her, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt in his stomach.

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The phone rang, startling Sasuke as he read through the scrolls that he had already reviewed several times. Getting up from his comfortable position, he walked over to the phone and wearily asked, "Hello?"

"You're _still_ at home? I had asked you two hours ago to come train with us."

It was Kakashi, that bastard. Sasuke's grip on the receiver tightened considerably, "You're blaming me? _You_ blew me off for the two hours I was training at the training grounds."

"What? Training ground? I had told you to come to the _indoor_ training grounds next to the Hokage tower, silly."

Sasuke ground his teeth in frustration, there was no point in telling this idiot that he had _not_ told him to meet him at the indoor training grounds, "I'll be there in five minutes. And _stop_ calling me 'silly'."

"Oh right. I'll see you in five minutes then, you grossly stupid oaf."

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"What happened to your eye?" Sasuke asked, referring to the beautifully coloured shiner that surrounded Kakashi's visible eye.

"What? This?" Kakashi fidgeted uncomfortably before continuing, "Erm…When I had called Kurenai over, I made a move on her then she punched me and screamed at me about calling her over from her student's birthday lunch and wasting her time."

Naruto burst out laughing, "Oh, man. It just gets funnier every time I hear it." By now he was rolling on the ground cackling hysterically until tears began to roll down his whiskered cheeks.

Student's birthday? Sasuke wondered, did she mean Hinata? Was that why they had all apologized to her when they had left? Sasuke clutched his side, the guilt that he had been experiencing before was nothing compared to the shame he felt then.

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Sasuke winced as he walked down the dark and relatively empty streets of Konoha, the training session he had just completed with Kakashi had been quite tough. Stopping at a bench just off the side of the street, he sat down with a grunt and bent his head back, letting the chilly air wash over him.

"Sas-Sasuke-san?"

Sasuke peeked an eye open to see the Hyuuga heiress staring imploringly at him, "A-are you okay?" She looked scared, yet she still had wanted to talk to him.

"Just training." He simply stated and closed his eye again, trying to ignore her.

"Well, d-don't take it too hard…" She sounded almost…sad.

Sasuke scrunched his eyebrows together and recalled a rather painful memory that had happened six years ago…

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"_Father! Father!__"__ A young seven year old Sasuke bounded into his father__'__s office, grinning like a fool, __"__Father, guess what today is!__"_

"_Not now Sasuke, I have a client here.__"__ Fugaku said through gritted teeth and motioned to the older man sitting in the chair opposite of him who stared at Sasuke in disdain, __"__Go bother your mother or brother.__"_

"_But father---__"_

"_Sasuke.__"__ That single word shut the dejected boy up as he dragged his feet out of his father__'__s meeting._

_Sasuke stared at his feet in shame after he had exited the office and closed the thin paper door behind him. A loud clang echoed through the courtyard, making Sasuke__'__s head shoot up in delight, at least there was still his beloved brother._

_Running barefoot across the grass courtyard, Sasuke launched himself at his older brother and clung tightly onto his leg._

"_Hello, Sasuke.__"__ Itachi monotonously greeted Sasuke, not bothering to look down at his younger brother._

"_Brother, brother! Guess what today is!__"__ Sasuke looked up at his brother and grinned widely, at least he could count on Itachi._

_Itachi finally looked down at Sasuke and gave him a smile that Sasuke knew so very rare, __"__Of course. It__'__s your birthday.__"__ He reached into his pocket and withdrew a small package. Sasuke leapt off of Itachi__'__s leg to stare in awe at the beautifully wrapped present and snatched it greedily from his brother__'__s hands._

_Itachi chuckled and watched as Sasuke ripped apart the wrapping paper and stare wide eyed at his present. It was a single shuriken that just fit into the palm of his hand. His very first shuriken. He had only been able to use wooden kunai and shuriken up to that point. He wrapped his arms around his brother__'__s waist, __"__Thank you, brother!__"_

"_Happy seventh birthday. By the way, don__'__t tell mother about this, let__'__s keep this our little secret, shall we?__"__ Sasuke nodded his head vigorously, still not believing his luck at getting such a special present._

_Itachi carefully detached the small boy from his waist, picked up the rest of the shuriken and kunai he had previously been training with and began to walk to the Uchiha manor__'__s exit gate._

"_Brother, where are you going?__"__ Sasuke trotted along side his brother like a faithful dog following his owner._

"_ANBU mission, I won__'__t be back for several weeks.__"__ Sasuke stopped and watched as Itachi walked through the gates and towards who knows where. Yet another person had abandoned him. He looked back at the manor, maybe his mother would be able to cheer him up._

_Running back to the house, he found his mother running around in a panic in the kitchen._

"_Oh, dear. Where is it?__"__ She bent down and checked under the table, then finally noticed Sasuke staring at her strangely at the doorway, __"__Oh, hello there, honey. Would you be a dear and help me find my purse?__"_

"_You__'__re holding it.__"_

"_What?__"__ Mikoto quickly glanced at the black purse dangling from her arm and breathed a sigh of relief, __"__I was so panicked about leaving that I guess I had forgotten I already had it.__"__ She laughed and quickly disappeared into the other room, only to appear seconds later dragging a large suitcase._

"_You__'__re going somewhere?__"__ Sasuke quickly ran up to his mother and gripped her skirt, __"__Where?__"__ He stared up at her pleadingly._

"_I__'__m going to the flower exhibition, sweetie.__"__ She smiled kindly down at him and pointed at a rather large and vibrantly colourful rose sitting on the kitchen table, __"__I__'__m entering my prize flower to make all the other ladies jealous. Not that I need to really, I already have two beautiful boys that I__'__m sure that they__'__re already jealous of.__"__ She rubbed his head affectionately and gently removed his tiny fingers from her skirt._

"_You__'__re leaving?__"__ He enclosed his arms around her and buried his head into her skirt, she seemed to have forgotten all together that it was his birthday._

"_Yes, so be sure to listen to your father and grandmother, okay?__"__ She kissed him on the forehead, then swept out of the house, humming merrily._

_Sasuke stared at his mother as she exited through the same gates that Itachi had left out of and wiped the tears away from his eyes. _Not you too…

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Sasuke watched Hinata's retreating figure and called out, "Uh…Hinata!"

She turned around and walked back to Sasuke, "I-is everything okay, Sasuke-san?"

"Er…uh---come eat lunch with me tomorrow." It was far too late to treat the Hyuuga for dinner or anything at the moment. Might as well give her his 'gift' tomorrow.

She looked at him with a pained expression, "Uh, S-Sasuke-san, I---I really ca---"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, he was trying to be nice here, "You said you owed me, right?"

She sighed in resignation, "O-okay, Sasuke-san. I-I'll come with you." With that, she bowed deeply and scurried off to her destination.

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**Uh…didn't turn out as long as I hoped it would, but longer than what it originally was. I found out that Kakashi was a really hard character to portray, but maybe that's just because I rarely write about him, hehe. I wasn't sure how old Sasuke was when Itachi killed everybody, so I just used six as the age that Itachi was still there with everybody.**

**Ciao,**

**MissLe**


	3. Lunch

**Chapter 3**

"Um...h-hello?" Hinata stood at the front of the Uchiha manor and knocked loudly on the large wooden door. If her father knew where she was, she would never again be allowed out of the Hyuuga complex without at least two highly trained escorts.

"Come in. It's not locked."

Hinata quietly stepped through the large doors and entered into the foyer. It was much more plain than she would've expected from such a grand manor; there were no photographs, or any personal touches, hardly anything to show that there was someone living there other than the pair of sandals that were lined up neatly in the corner.

"I'll be a minute, you can sit in the living room, if you wish."

Hinata wasn't exactly sure where Sasuke was, so wandered into the room next to her, supposing it was the living room. A small loveseat sat in the far corner next to a large window that showed part of an unkempt courtyard. Sitting down on the couch, Hinata looked around and observed her surroundings even further; everything in the room was in place, scrolls and books were neatly lined up along a bookshelf; everything except a single black shirt that hung haphazardly at the edge of the footstool next to her.

"Hinata, is my shirt in there?" Sasuke's head peeked around from the corner of the doorjamb.

"Uh...y-yes, I think s-so." She carefully picked up the carelessly strewn away shirt next to her, "I-is this it?"

"Yeah." Sasuke strode into the room half naked, his hand outstretched to reach for the shirt. Hinata turned a bright crimson colour and turned her head away, leaving her arm out for him to snatch his shirt away from her. Sure it wasn't the first time she had seen a boy's chest. She had seen Kiba and Shino training without shirts on before, it was just that Sasuke had a very..._nice_ chest.

Once Sasuke had slipped on his shirt, he finally looked at her. She had her hair tied up in an elegant bun and was wearing a thick purple jacket and flowing white skirt. All in all, she looked pretty dolled up and mature, he was almost sure she was even wearing makeup. Eying her warily, he crossed his arms, "You know, this isn't even a date," He paused for a moment, wondering what really constituted for what a date was before continuing, "You don't have to get so dressed up."

She turned an even darker shade of red and raised an eyebrow, "D-don't flatter yourself, Sasuke-san. This isn't for you, today is a special...occasion."

So the Hyuuga had a sense of humour? Who knew? She had even lost most of her stutter, maybe it was just when Naruto was around that she felt shy. He shrugged, "Okay, let's go then."

* * *

Sasuke stared out the noodle shop window, it was _snowing_. Was this some form of punishment for being so callous to Hinata on her birthday? He _was_ trying to make up for it. 

"S-Sasuke-san, are you okay? You seem rather...spacey." Hinata took a small slurp of her noodles and glanced out the window to see what he was staring at.

"It's nothing." He turned his head away quickly and began poking at his untouched noodles.

"You don't l-like the snow, do you, Sas-Sasuke-san?" She speculated and continued staring out the window, entranced by the dancing patterns the snow made in the slight breeze.

"No."

The rest of the meal was kept in silence, neither awkward or comfortable. Sasuke took to watching the young heiress eat her food, she was actually quite sloppy in doing so. She would slurp her food, splattering the broth in every direction and then daintily (if not self-consciously) wipe up any splotches of soup with her napkin. It was quite amusing.

"You missed a spot." Sasuke smirked and pointed at her left cheek that had a small blotch of soup.

"Wh-what?" She turned a bright pink and began to rub profusely at her right cheek.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "No, wrong cheek." He leaned across the table and quickly swiped his thumb across the small splatter of soup on her cheek, causing her to burn an even brighter shade.

"I---I...I could've d-done it my-myself..." She mumbled and went back to sipping her broth at a much quieter manner.

"Sasuke! Hinata-chan!" Naruto's overly loud voice rang through Sasuke's ears making him cringe. Not now...he really wasn't up to Naruto's teasing and accusing of him going on a 'date'. "Where were you yesterday? You never showed up at Ichiraku's!"

"Oh...h-hello N-Naruto-kun..." Hinata turned a pleasant crimson and shrank into her seat.

Naruto grinned devilishly, "So Sasuke, you finally found a girl, eh? And Hinata-chan too! Well, congrats!" He playfully slapped Sasuke on the back before turning to Hinata and stage whispering, "How'd he managed to snag you? Did he threaten you? You can tell me the truth, I could beat him up for you with no problem."

Sasuke delivered a forceful blow to Naruto's tender head, "Moron, I am_ not_ on a date. I'm paying her back" He glared menacingly at Naruto, "And don't _ever_ touch me again."

"Whatever, I was kidding. As if Hinata-chan would ever go out with _you_ anyways." He stuck his tongue out at Sasuke before skipping off to the counter to order up several large bowls of ramen.

"What do you mean you _owe_ m-me?" Hinata was still quietly sipping her broth as Sasuke avoided all eye contact with her.

Oh. Right. She wasn't supposed to know about that. Sasuke sighed in frustration, he hated showing this mushy side of him, "It was your birthday yesterday, and I treated you...less than respectfully." It was now his turn to mumble, he was hoping Hinata wouldn't be able to hear him that way.

No such luck. Hinata blushed, "Oh. Y-you heard then." She shrank even further into her chair, making it look like she wanted to disappear from the face of the earth.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing, Sakura-chan?" Naruto jumped away from the pink headed girl who had entered the noodle shop and was grabbing at his bowl of ramen. Sasuke rolled his eyes, he could still hear the blond from the other side of the rather large noodle shop.

"Naruto! Don't eat so much! You're going to get sick, we have a training practice today, remember?" Sakura had successfully snatched away his bowl and politely asked the waiter to take it away, "Stop causing these people trouble."

Hinata looked at the two and sighed. Sasuke glanced at her, was she jealous? Letting his head rest in his palm he looked at Hinata lazily, "Why do you like him so much?"

Hinata went rigid and turned a shade of red that was deemed impossible to attain until then, "W-was it th-that a-apparent?"

Sasuke looked at her sceptically, "Uh...yeah, it was pretty app--hey, what do you mean 'was'?"

Hinata slapped her hand to her mouth and stuttered at an even worse rate, "I--I uh...I-I d-don't l-like hi-him any-anymore..."

"So why do you seem so horrified?" Usually Sasuke didn't care to pry into other people's private lives, but the Hyuuga was incredibly entertaining to tease.

"I--I l-like some--someone e-else..." She poked her two index fingers together, a habit that Sasuke hadn't seen her perform for a while.

"Huh. Is that so?" This was certainly interesting, the Hyuuga who had been smitten with the idiot for who knows how long suddenly dropped her crush? "Who is it then?"

"I-it's a ve-very silly crush. But he's kind to me, and...thoughtful."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "It's the dog boy, isn't it?"

She chuckled and shook her head, "I'll always love Kiba-kun, b-but he's so m-much like a b-big brother to me I-I don't think I could..."

"Then who is it?"

"N-no one! So stop asking!" She snapped at him and ordered up her bill.

Sasuke drew back a bit, had he offended her somehow? "Hey, did I insult you? Because I'm really not trying to."

She softened, "N-no. I-it's just that it's a very stressful day to-today, I have a previous engagement to go to anyways. Thank you very much for eating with me...again." She stood up from her seat and bowed to him before smiling apologetically and breezily exiting out the doors. It was probably the last time she was going to ever see or speak to him again.

Sasuke almost laughed at the irony of the situation, the one member of the female race (and possibly the human race too) he could tolerate had just blew him off during a dat----no. _Not_ a date.

Pulling out several bills, he asked for the bill and stood up to stretch. Peering over his shoulder to look at the spot Hinata had been sitting previously, he noticed a small white piece of material poking up from under the red and white checked tablecloth. It was her purse.

Sighing, Sasuke snatched it up from the chair, guess it wasn't going to be the last time he saw her. Teh. How troubleso---no, not troublesome, that was Shikamaru's word. How about...problematic?

More like fate intervening.

* * *

"Come on Shino! Give it baaaaack!" Kiba whined and tried jumping to grab the object from the taller boy's hand," This isn't funny anymore!"

"I beg to differ." Shino's usually stoic expression had changed to one that could almost be counted as amusement, then changed back to a stoic one, "Besides, you had promised me that you would stop trying to hit me with it. It's getting rather annoying to dodge it while I'm trying to train."

"I_ promise_ I will this time!" Kiba pitifully begged some more for the object held within Shino's grip.

Sasuke watched this whole scene with mild annoyance, they were wasting his time, Hinata wasn't even there. Clearing his throat, he walked into the small clearing that he had earlier identified as the training ground that Hinata's team usually trained at and waited to claim the two arguing genins' attention.

"Give. It. Ba---"

"Kiba. Behave. I believe we have a visitor. Uchiha Sasuke-san." Shino dropped what was in his hand previously, a small, mutilated (by Shino's forceful grip) tennis ball, onto Kiba's head and turned to Sasuke, "Is there any particular reason you came here, Uchiha-san?"

Kiba glared at Sasuke, who glared back unwaveringly, "Yes. I came to look for the Hyuuga."

"Hinata-chan?" Kiba got up from the ground and pointed an accusing finger at him, "She's busy today! There's absolutely no possible way for you to see her!"

"Is that so?" Sasuke crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, "Well, may I ask what this is?" He dangled Hinata's purse from his index finger in front of Kiba.

"Wh-what? Why should I care if you finally came out of the closet and bought yourself a purse?" Sasuke rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth.

"No. It's Hinata-san's purse." Shino walked over to the young avenger and narrowed his eyebrows, "Isn't it?"

Kiba stormed up to the unfazed Uchiha and gripped his collar threateningly, "If you stole it from her, I will break every bone in your body after I've burnt your filthy fingers off and then---"

"Now why would I want to return it if I stole it?" Sasuke asked monotonously, this was getting quite irksome, "She left it at the restaurant during our lunch dat---lunch. When we had lunch."

Kiba instantly dropped his hands to his waists in shock, "What? Hinata went on a date with--with--with _you_?" Sasuke would have bet money that the boy's jaw would have dropped off had he let it hang that low for any longer.

"Ye--no. It was_ not_ a date. We just had lunch." How many people (including himself) must he tell that it was _not_ a date?

"Well, was it arranged by a third party?" Shino asked, finally deciding then was a good time to intervene.

"No." Sasuke asked, who was going to make a Hyuuga_ and_ a Uchiha eat together?

"Did you ask her yourself?"

"Yes."

"Was it about missions or anything to do with our profession?"

"No."

"Were you two alone when you ate?"

"To a certain extent."

"Then it, as much as it pains me to say this, counted as a _date_." Shino nonchalantly pushed his glasses farther up the bridge of his nose, "So you had better believe that it meant a lot to Hinata, it being her very first to go on." He walked up to Sasuke and stared him down, almost frightening Sasuke with his harsh glare and tone of voice, "So stop regarding it--and her--so lightly."

Kiba snapped his jaw closed again, "What? It _was_ a date? You're letting him know that? It's going to get to his already hugely inflated ego, he's going to think he can go on another one with Hinata then!"

Shino ignored the whining boy and turned back to the tree that he had been attempting to disintegrate with nasty looking bugs and said to Sasuke, "She's at the graveyard."

Sasuke nodded appreciatively and dashed away from the training grounds, not caring to be found by anyone he knew while carrying a _women's_ purse around on his shoulder.

Kiba ran up to Shino and asked through clenched teeth, "Why did you let him know? Do you even remember what today is?"

Shino didn't even look at his team mate, "I know, Hinata phoned to remind me that she was going to miss practice today. And that she already had a lunch appointment."

"So why did you tell him?"

Shino stopped manipulating chakra and watched as the bugs all flew away in a scattered mess due to no one controlling them anymore, "You are an idiot, Kiba."

* * *

**This was originally part of another chapter, but that was taking too long, so I just broke it up into two sections instead. Many deep and pitiful apologies for not updating soon enough!**

**Ciao,  
MissLe**


	4. Cemetery

**Chapter 4**

Sasuke leapt over the gates of the cemetery grounds, why would she be here of all places? Jumping over several headstones, he hid in the large oak tree that stood in the centre of the whole burial ground; she was almost directly right underneath it, yet she had not noticed him in the least bit.

"H-hello mother, I brought you flowers. Daffodils because father had said that they were your favourite." She smiled sadly down at the gravestone below her, "How is heaven? Is it a nice place? Would I like it?

"Father's getting fed up with me, he's tried very hard to train me, but I--I just can't seem to get stronger." She hunched over and let large tears splatter on the stone ground under her, "I've tried hard too, mother. I've tried so hard, but I'm not good enough. Not good enough for anyone." She looked back up at the gravestone and wiped away the tears that continued to spill down her cheeks, "I'm so grateful for Kurenai-sensei, Kiba-kun and Shino-kun, they treat me well and are patient with me. I wish you could've met them."

Sasuke watched her from the tree, this was her mother she was visiting? His gaze softened, so she too knew the pain of losing someone that was that close to you. It was a very hard and painful experience that tore at the very essence of your soul. Yet this girl…this girl had not fully crumbled like he had, she still loved and appreciated people, something that he had deemed himself incapable of.

"I--I've also met another boy that treats me kindly. Even though he is rough on the outside and seems quite cold, I think his compassion and gentleness is hard to miss." She smiled genuinely at the headstone, "I think I've fallen for him."

Sasuke leaned closer, eager to hear the answer to the question that hadn't been answered earlier.

"I think you have met him before, actually. His name's---"

_Crack_.

Sasuke swung gracefully from another branch and onto the ground. The branch he had been sitting on had broke from him leaning too much weight on it. Cursing, he wiped his hands and forced himself to look everywhere other than where Hinata was, who was staring open jawed at him, a look of shock written across her face.

"S-Sas-Sasuke-san!" Hinata looked at him in horror, "Wh-what are you d-doing here?" She continued staring at him as if he had just grown three extra arms and green scales.

Sasuke still refused to look at her, instead stuck out his arm that was firmly gripping her purse and stared at the tombstone beside him, "You forgot this at the restaurant."

"O-oh." She shuffled over to him and grabbed her purse, "Th-thank you for bringing it t-to m-me." She wrung the strap on her purse uncomfortably, "M-may I ask as to why you wanted to bring it to me instead o-of one of my t-team mates? Wouldn't that have been easier?"

Why _hadn__'__t_ he left it with Kiba and Shino? That definitely would have spared him this overwhelmingly awkward moment, "Uh--does that mean you want me to leave?" He quickly turned to get out of the situation, but was stopped by a small hand gripping his shirt.

"No!" Sasuke turned and raised his eyebrow at her, causing a crimson shade spread across her face, "Er…I-I mean, 'no' I don't want you to go. But not because it's you, Sasuke-san." She waved her arms, flustered, "I-I don't mean it like that! I mean---"

"I'll stay, if you wish." Hinata gave a small smile and returned to kneeling down in the snow in front of her mother's grave, baring the slightest hint of a contented smile.

Sasuke sat down in the snow next to him and stared at the headstone uncomfortably, he felt like an intruder, invading the small, fragile world of Hinata Hyuuga. He wondered when her mother had died, it seemed her wound had long healed over. Still staring at the large and intricate stone, he quietly asked, "When did she…die?"

Hinata looked up at him, surprised he hadn't snuck away yet, "She--she died exactly nine years ago." She replaced a dying stick of incense with a new one.

Her mother had died the day right after her birthday? That was harsh, almost as harsh as _his_ own parents' death. Quietly, he took a seat next to the oblivious girl, trying to recollect the memory of the only time he had ever met Hyuuga Kyoko.

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"_B-but father! I don__'__t _want_ to go!__"__ Sasuke whined and clutched his mother__'__s legs tighter._

"_Sasuke.__"__ Fugaku__'__s commanding voice made Sasuke cower and bury his face into his mother__'__s skirt, __"__Look at me.__"__ Sasuke obediently, if not fearfully, looked up at his looming father, __"__You are four years old, it is time that you get acquainted with another clan that is just as prestigious as ours, I do not care if you are too shy to meet them. A shinobi must _never_ be afraid.__"_

"_B-but_, father_--__"_

"_I don__'__t want to hear it. You are going to go.__"_

_Sasuke looked like he was going to cry, he probably would have if his mother hadn__'__t bent down next to him and gave him a gentle pat on the head, __"__Sasuke, honey, don__'__t be shy. The Hyuugas have an adorable little girl your age that you can play with while daddy and I are in the meeting, okay?__"_

"_I don__'__t _like_ girls. They always try to hug me, or kiss me. They__'__re gross.__"__ Sasuke made a face and clung onto his mother tighter._

"_Please, Sasuke,__"__ Mikoto gently brought up her son__'__s face so that he was looking at her, __"__be nice to her. For me?__"_

_Sasuke looked at his mother and then reluctantly let go of her, __"__If we do that, can we make cookies when we get back?__"_

_Mikoto had to laugh at her son__'__s child-like obsession towards sweets, __"__Of course.__"_

_---------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Hyuuga Hiashi was an intimidating man, even more so than Sasuke__'__s own father. Sasuke grasped his mother__'__s hand tighter, to which she responded back with a gentle smile to the frightened young child._

"_Fugaku-san.__"__ Hiashi gave him a low bow, to which Fugaku responded with an equally low bow, __"__I see you__'__ve brought your son. The younger one.__"_

_Fugaku nodded, __"__I thought he should get acquainted with who the Hyuuga are.__"_

_Hiashi waved vaguely to the direction of a paper door that led out to the courtyard, __"__He can go see Hinata. She is training right now.__"_

_Mikoto gave a gentle push to her son, __"__Go see her.__"__ Sasuke stumbled to the door with a quick glance behind him to his mother who gave him an encouraging smile._

_A small girl stood in the centre of the court yard, futilely hurling kunai and shuriken at a target that sat at the other side of the courtyard. Finally, a single shuriken hit the target and the girl gave a cry of joy, __"__Mother! Mother! I did it!__"_

_She ran into her mother__'__s arms with a big grin. __"__Good job, Hinata. I__'__m so proud of you.__"__ She smiled at her daughter and gently stroked the pale girl__'__s head. Looking up, the woman finally noticed Sasuke and gave him a small smile, __"__You must be Mikoto__'__s younger son, Sasuke.__"_

_Sasuke gave an uncertain nod. Chuckling, she motioned him to come closer, __"__No need to worry, we won__'__t bite.__"__ She looked down at her daughter who was examining Sasuke like a mouse determining whether or not its reflection was friend or foe, __"__Well, _I_ won__'__t bite.__"_

_Cautiously, Sasuke advanced, but still kept a fair distance away. Hinata__'__s mother gave her a small shove, __"__Hinata, say hello to Sasuke.__"_

_Hinata brought her hands near her face protectively and bowed deeply to Sasuke, __"__W-welcome to the Hy-Hyuuga manor.__"__ With that, she ran back to the protection of her mother__'__s embrace who sighed in exasperation._

"_Hinata, I have to go to the council meeting too, you can__'__t hide in my lap all day, okay?__"__ She carefully unlatched the small girl from her lap and gently pulled her in front of the young Uchiha, __"__Play nicely with him.__"__ She bent down and placed a small kiss on her daughter__'__s forehead before gracefully sweeping away into the house. Both Sasuke and Hinata watched as she left, then were left in an awkward silence._

_Hinata finally broke the long silence as she gently poked the ground with her toe, __"__S-so__…__do you l-like c-cookies?__"_

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Sasuke was surprised he could remember even that much, it had been so long ago. He almost laughed at the memory, wondering how in the world he ever had been so obsessed with sweets.

He snuck a quick glance at the petite girl, she didn't look sad, she wasn't even crying, she was…smiling. In fact, when he had been observing her before in the tree, the only time he had heard her crying was because she had been letting all of her frustrations out; not because of her mother's death.

"Why are you smiling? Shouldn't you be upset?" This didn't surprise Sasuke anymore, it made him angry. If she didn't care about her mother, did it matter if she died? Why did his mother have to die too? His irrational logic made everything seem much more upsetting.

Hinata looked up at him in surprise, "O-oh." she gave a wistful smile and the gravestone, gently tracing the words etched into the stone, "My mother had o-once said, 'Hinata, there are p-people in this world who are oh so s-strong and intelligent, and there a-are those who are oh s-so kind and h-happy.' Since I can't be strong like you, o-or smart like Sakura-san, I can on-only stick with being happy."

"What kind of philosophy is that? It's dumb."

Hinata suddenly turned on Sasuke and grabbed his shirt collar violently, jerking him forwards so that he was inches away from her face, "D-don't you _dare_ say that my mother was dumb. I can tolerate people putting m-me down, but d-don't _ever_ put d-down my mother."

"Well, no matter how much you think otherwise, it's wrong. There are plenty of people in this world both happy and strong. Being strong doesn't mean you aren't happy."

"Are you?" Hinata asked, her faced softening.

"Am I what?"

"Are you happy?"

Sasuke wasn't sure what to say, he didn't feel that lying would be an honourable thing to do, but he certainly did not want to defy his own logic. He stared at her longer, mentally tracing each contour of her soft face, noticing how her pale, snow-white skin and large lavender grey eyes made her look like a white lily floating in a pool of water. Grabbing her slender fingers, he began to unhook them from his collar, "I---I'm happy that you appreciate my company well enough to make me stay, even though I interrupted your time with your mother."

A light blush graced Hinata's gentle features as she shoved her hands into her lap, "O-oh. I--I…" She looked up at him through long lashes, "You're w-welcome."

Sasuke shrugged and adjusted himself so that he was propped up on his elbows. Staring up at the clouded skies that covered and smothered Konoha like a thick grey blanket, he wondered what possessed him to say something as sappy like that, to a _girl_ no less.

"S-Sasuke-san," Hinata shifted her body away from the gravestone to face Sasuke, "D-do you think crying is…weak?"

Sasuke twisted his head slightly to look at her lazily, what brought this up? "Why do you ask?"

She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, "N-no reason."

He turned his head back up to face the shielded sun, "Crying means that you're exposing emotion. Emotion is a dangerous thing to have for a shinobi, it could expose vulnerability to the enemy and it could jeopardize a mission." He glanced at her with his peripheral vision, she was blankly staring at a lone flower standing erect in the thin layer of snow, listening intently to his words, "But it could just be a reflex. A reflex to pain, physical or emotional."

She looked up from the flower, "B-but you still haven't answered my question." Her long, unblinking gazes were almost unnerving, if it weren't for the fact that they weren't lustful like the other girls that stared after him, they were…kind. Kind and considerate.

He rolled onto his stomach, flattening the flower and catching her full attention, so what if he got himself wet? "The answer is yes. I think that crying is showing that you're weak." Seeing her head sink in depression made his stomach tighten with some unknown emotion, "But being weak is part of being human. Humans are very fragile creatures that are indeed weak."

Hinata hesitantly lowered herself onto the ground in front of Sasuke, "Th-then what would we do to make ourselves s-stronger?" She whispered and plucked a piece of grass dusted with snow from the ground.

"Well, determination is one thing that helps. So do natural talents." He crossed his arms in front of him and rested his head in them, "However, strength of the heart helps too. But it's even harder to obtain. You need to be courageous, pure, kind, and loyal to have a strong heart." he felt silly and stupid saying this. Hell, he didn't even know _why_ he was telling her all of this, he was barely familiar with her.

Hinata looked up from her shredded piece of grass, "B-but _I__'__m_ determined t-to get stronger. _And_ I have the Byakugan, but I'm still a feeble little m-misfit." She buried her head in the crook of her arm, "W-what else would help?"

"Time. Patience. And I guess a little help from someone."

Hinata poked her head up from her elbow and giggled, "You're qu-quite the philosopher, S-Sasuke-san."

Sasuke slammed his palms onto the ground in a ready position to leap away. Here he was pouring out his soul to this girl, yet she was _laughing_ at him? Ungrateful little bit---

"W-wait!" Hinata gripped his arm tightly, "I--I didn't mean t-to offend you." She loosened her grip, but kept her hand on his arm with a feather light touch, "I really a-appreciate it, it helps." She smiled brightly at him and finally removed her hand. Her touch left a pleasant tingle on his arm, leaving him yearning for more.

Wait a minute. 'Yearning'? What the hell? Since when did Sasuke Uchiha yearn for anything other than revenge? Especially when that yearning was directed towards a girl, a creature whom he usually dreaded and feared when even the name of their race were mentioned. He pulled his hand down his face and groaned silently, he really had to stay away from this girl.

"I--I really have to go." Sasuke stood up, leaving him slightly guilty at the disheartened look on her face, why was she upset that he was going? Didn't she already have a crush on some other unknown guy?

Hinata nodded, "O-of course, I'm sorry that I-I made you stay." She blushed guiltily, "Thank you."

He raised an eyebrow as he reached up to the sky, stretching his aching joints, "You aren't going to leave?"

"No." She stated simply as she replaced another incense stick with a new one, "I'll stay here a little longer." Sasuke noticed she had lost all her stutter. She looked up from the whirling patterns of smoke that fluttered through the air and smiled, "Good bye, Sasuke-san, and once again, thank you very much."

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He took a small, steaming dumpling from the sky blue cardboard box in his gloved hands and munched thoughtfully on it. Was the Hyuuga still at the grave? Whenever it was his parents' death anniversary, he would always spend the whole day at the cemetery, rain, sleet, or snow (which is usually why he always had to spend the next day sitting in front of a blazing fire or in the bath tub).

He spat the mouthful of dumpling onto the snow covered ground in disgust, why was he still thinking of her? Usually after he had an encounter with a member of the opposite sex, he tried to forget their name as soon as it came flowing out of their loud mouths. Obviously just getting away from her wasn't enough.

As he let his feet guide him to god know where, he tried to remember each encounter that he had with the young heiress. They had all been relatively pleasant (meaning he hadn't ended up being trampled by fanatical fan girls or had an attempted kiss performed on him).

Finally, he noticed where he was, he was back at the cemetery. He looked up at the grey heavens, was this the work of a higher power? He waved off the thought, as long as he was here, he might as well check to see if she had been frozen in the cold.

He quickened his pace as he entered the cemetery, dusk was about to fall within the hour and Sasuke did not care to be walking through an eerie cemetery in the dark. Munching furiously on the rapidly disappearing dumplings, he finally made his way to the largest gravestone in the burial ground and found Hinata lying on the heavily snow covered ground, seemingly unconscious.

He immediately dropped the box into the deep snow and ran to her, was she attacked? He scooped her up into his arms and shook her, "Hey, Hyuuga, are you awake?" Frantically trying to warm her up, he rubbed her hand between his until they finally developed the slightest amount of warmth.

Finally, she began moving, shifting closer to the source of heat and clutching desperately to Sasuke's heavy coat, "I-it's c-c-cold." She chattered faintly and opened her eyes blearily up at Sasuke, only to pass out once more.

Trying to keep a cool head, Sasuke debated on his options; he could her back to the Hyuuga manor. Or not. He could just imagine the accusations that would be formed against him if he brought the Hyuuga heiress back unconscious. Maybe passing her on to Shino or Kiba would be a good idea, but they probably had already left and he didn't know where they lived. He sighed and propped her up against his back in a piggyback position, that only left bringing her to his house.

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He got up from his rather cushy and comfortable chair at the sound of the shrill whistle of the kettle, snatching two random mugs along the way. Turning off the element, he took the kettle and poured the boiling water evenly between the two mugs, sprinkling tea leaves into them before walking back into the living room.

Hinata lay on the couch in front of the blazing hearth with a thick blanket draped across her, her previously wet body soaking the black leather couch. Sasuke hadn't the courage to strip her of her clothes, so let her to dry in front of the fire instead; he blushed, falsely accusing the steaming tea for it.

He placed one of the mugs on the table beside Hinata and took his, placing it snugly between his hands and staring at it blankly, wondering if she would freak out after finding herself in a strange and foreign household.

"Nguuuh…." Hinata stirred and rolled over so that she was facing the fire place, "F-fireplace? I d-don't own a fireplace…" She immediately jolted up as if electrocuted and gave a shrill scream.

Well…at least he got his answer.

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**ONE MORE CHAPTER LEFT!!! XD!! Well, I might do an epilogue. Maybe. Depends on the mood I'll be in. **** Finals are finished and summer vacation is here!! Yay! I'll be able to update more often!!**

**I was thinking lately, I really should do some sort of pairing other than Sasuke X Hinata, I mean, doesn't it get boring for you guys? **

**Ciao, **

**MissLe**


	5. Truths and Dares

**Chapter 5**

"Calm down!" Sasuke hissed at her and darted his hand out to reach for the mug of tea that was threatening to crash against the floor from its perch on the side table.

Hinata whipped around to find the voice of the speaker, her eyes wide and frightened, "S-Sasuke-san…?" She relaxed but did not lie back down, "What am I doing…here?" She looked around, trying to locate where 'here' was.

"You're at the Uchiha compound," Sasuke answered her unasked question dully.

"B-but _why_?" Her voice getting higher and higher with hysteria, making her sound almost like Sakura or Ino. Or any other girl in the village.

"Because you were enough of an idiot to stay in the freezing weather without a thick enough coat on!" He snapped at her, furious with her for some reason.

Hinata winced and recoiled, "I…don't understand." She whispered quietly as if frightened that loud noises would send Sasuke into a rage (which really wasn't that far off the mark).

"You passed out because you weren't retaining enough body heat, moron!" His grip on the mug was beginning to threaten its well being.

Hinata looked at him, confused, "B-but why are y-you angry at me? I-I don't understand…"

"Well I did have to carry you here for lack of options," Sasuke huffed and glared at her, "And I didn't get angry!"

Hinata meekly nodded, "Well, I-I'm sorry that you had to drag me here," She smiled shyly at him as she reached over to gently take the mug of tea from his hands, "Thank you," She murmured quietly and took a sip.

Sasuke just grunted and attempted to recompose himself, "I'm sure you'd like to get back to the Hyuuga compound," He noticed her grimace slightly but said nothing about it, "But I'm afraid you'd run into some…difficulties." He motioned his hand to the window where outside a full on blizzard was taking place.

Hinata gave a strangled gasp and ran to the window to make sure she was seeing things right, "Wh-when did this happen?"

Sasuke shrugged, "I dunno, couple hours ago, maybe?"

The pained look on Hinata's face made her discomfort about what Sasuke was about to suggest obvious.

"Look," Sasuke snarled, "I don't _want_ to have you stay until the storm's over," He was tempted to say 'stay the night', but knew that wouldn't go over too well with the young heiress, "But what choice to I have?"

Hinata relaxed her scrunched eyebrows slightly, "Y-you're right, I'm sorry for being so s-selfish." She gave one last regretful glance out the window and set her mug down on the low table in front of the fire.

"Wh-where will…I…stay?" She asked, seeming to have trouble forming the words correctly, "I…I could s-sleep on the couch, if that's convenient for you…"

Sasuke sighed, there was no obvious solution to making her feel less uncomfortable, so just took large gulp of tea from his mug to hopefully relieve his stress and ignored the burning sensation that had overtaken his throat, "There are extra bedrooms. You can choose one of those." He tried not to croak and made a mental note to avoid swigging scorching hot tea _ever again_. Or hot anything again.

Hinata seemed not to notice anything wrong with him due to her apparent state of distress, "Where are the spare…bedrooms?"

He waved his hand down towards a long, dark hallway that was lined with doors on each side of the walls, "Take your pick, there's plenty to choose from."

Hinata stared wide eyed at the hall of rooms, then back to Sasuke, and back to the hall, "Th-there?" She squeaked and pulled the wool blanket farther up so that it now covered half her face, leaving only her pale, frightened eyes to be exposed.

"Yes _there_." He said forcefully, "There are no other rooms you could sleep in."

"I d-don't mean to be such a bother, but—"

"Then _don't_."

Hinata looked torn between making the young Uchiha angry again and voicing her own opinion. Gulping several times, she continued like he had not rudely interrupted her, "B-but may I sleep _here _tonight?" She pointed down at the couch she was sitting on.

"Why?"

"B-because…" She fidgeted and knitted her eyebrows together self-consciously, "I'd like to stay near the fire," She added quietly and ducked her head.

"The other rooms are_ just_ as warm for your information." He took another, _slower_ sip from his cooling tea.

"I-it's not that," She mumbled and traced the rim around the cup anxiously.

Sasuke was confused, why would she not want to stay in the other rooms? After several moments of awkward silence he drew a conclusion of sorts, was it because she thought that they were _dark and scary_?

He was almost about to scold or mock her for having such a childish phobia, but realised that the guilt that would be added on would not let him have a peaceful night's sleep. Sighing, he gave a stiff and reluctant nod, "I can go find some extra pillows and blankets if you want,"

She relaxed slightly but shook her head, "I have p-plenty of pillows and blankets here." She motioned at all the pillows and blankets he had quickly grabbed and piled on top of Hinata while she had been unconscious.

Sasuke shrugged in order to retain his 'Whatever. Nothing really matters to me anyways.' persona and not look like such an idiot for voicing the stupid question, "Well, I'm going to bed now."

Hinata looked fearfully down the dark and menacing hallway once more before staring up at Sasuke with apprehensive eyes, "G-goodnight, Sasuke-san." She then dove under the blankets and stared into the fire, leaving her hand in a ready position to snatch a log whenever the fire threatened to die.

Sasuke rolled his eyes; hopefully the storm would be over by morning.

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A loud clang woke Sasuke. He bolted up from his warm bed and jerked his gaze towards the door. What was that? A burglar? He strained his hearing; yup, there was definitely someone out there.

Snatching the kunai that he always hid underneath his pillow, he snuck out of the room sneakily and slowly made his way towards where the loud crash and clang was heard from.

Indeed, there was actually someone shuffling through the cupboards in his kitchen. Sasuke gave a small smirk; the stupid thief didn't know what they were going to be dealing with when they decided to break into_ his_ house, did they?

Creeping up behind them, he threw an arm around their neck and brought the kunai to the pale skin of their neck, "Gotcha." He whispered and lightly pressed the kunai to their neck, sending a drop of blood dribbling down their neck.

"Sas-Sasuke-san?" The 'intruder' gasped and attempted to breathe.

Sasuke flung himself away, "What the hell are you doing snooping around my house, Hyuuga? Just because I let you stay here doesn't mean I gave you the right to invade my privacy!" He yelled at the tearing Hyuuga.

"I—I wasn't doing that!" She cried in defence and wiped the stray tears away, "I w-was looking for a cup!"

Sasuke snorted, "Yeah right."

"I was!" Her voice now so forceful that all of her stutter had disappeared.

This amused Sasuke for some reason, it was rare to hear Hinata without her stammering; he was already lucky enough to be blessed with situations involving these scarce instants twice. He gave an almost undetectable grin, this would be a fun game, seeing how long he could talk with the Hyuuga without making her stammer.

"And what the hell for then?"

"Because I was thirsty." She said bluntly, still obviously upset about him almost slitting her throat then accusing her of snooping.

Point one for Sasuke.

"You could've used the mugs that I used for your tea." He said, having a difficult time not showing any of his amusement.

"You took those away when you went to bed!" She threw her hands up in exasperation, her voice beginning to rise.

Did he? Oh, right. Oh well, that didn't matter, her last little performance must have been worth at least_ ten_ points.

Sasuke just sauntered over to the cupboard and withdrew two glass cups and set them down on the wooden table set in the centre of the kitchen, "What do you want to drink?" He sat down on a chair and motioned for Hinata to sit next to him.

"Ah…w-water I suppose i-is fine…" She stuttered, unsure of what brought his sudden change in attitude.

Sasuke mentally rolled his eyes, what would it take to make her cease her stuttering? He got up from his seat and walked over to the sink to fill the glasses up with regular tap water, then sat down again.

He mused over his glass of water for a while before coming up with an idea that was light bulb worthy. He turned to Hinata who was sitting directly across from him, despite the fact that he had requested her to sit next to him and said, "Let's play a game,"

"A—a game?" she asked, unsure as to whether or not she liked where this was leading.

"Yep." He drew out the word and took a quick sip of water, "It's simple enough, it's a fun game I like to call, Truth or Dare."

Hinata began spraying water from her nose, "_Wh-what_?" She shrieked hysterically, her past experiences with that game had left some fairly embarrassing mental scars.

Sasuke lowered his head and tried not to let his shoulders shake too much. That was too funny; to see the Hyuuga heiress act so…_not_ like a Hyuuga heiress was truly hilarious.

"Is something wr-wrong?" She asked, concerned.

He held his breath, but it did nothing to help. Finally, after a second or two of silence, the kitchen was filled with his loud and _sincere_ laugh. It was almost nice to be able to laugh so freely around someone; it felt like someone had just lifted a large rock off of his shoulders. It felt liberating.

Hinata's open jaw and widely opened eyes snapped him back to his usual self, "What?" He snapped at her and hardened his face again.

"D-do it again."

"Do _what_?"

"Laugh. Sm-smile. B-be happy." She leaned slightly forward across the table to stare intently at him, searching for any traces left of what she had witnessed not moments ago.

"What? No!" He searched desperately for a change of topic, "Besides, we're playing Truth or Dare. I'll go first." He lazily returned her gaze, to which he was pleased with the fact that she no longer avoided his stares, "Truth or dare?"

"Ah…um…" She fiddled with a short strand of hair, "Truth I su-suppose…"

The question that had occupied his mind earlier came tumbling out of his mouth, "Who's the guy you like?"

"Wh-what? No!" She frantically waved her arms in rejection to his question, "D-dare! I'll do a d-dare instead!"

"You can't do that." He frowned, no way could this guy be any worse than Naruto; she really had nothing to fear other than his teasing and maybe scoffing.

"Well I—I…" She looked positively stressed to the point that she kept her eyes on the door for an escape route, "Can I j-just give a hint instead?"

If this was the only way to find out, he supposed he could cut her a little slack, "Fine."

"Well, he—he's someone very close to y-you, you pr-probably know him better th-than anyone else in the w-world."

"You said you were over Naruto."

"I a-am." She said seriously and stared him in the eye before turning her gaze away to the window a few seconds later.

"Does he live in the village?"

"Yes."

"Is he our age?"

"This isn't twenty qu-questions!" She huffed, "I—it's my turn anyways. Truth or dare?"

"Truth." Sasuke answered automatically, it was better to play it safe on the first round.

She frowned and put a finger to her lips, trying to decide on a good question for him, "Wh-what qualities d-do you look for in a g-girl?"

"Why?"

She gave a small shrug, "B-because you have every g-girl in the village falling a-at your feet, b-but as far as the g-gossip goes, your on-only kiss has been with Naruto…" She gave a small chuckle and listened for his answer.

Sasuke frowned, he_ really_ didn't want to remember that, "By every girl, do you mean yourself too?" He asked, trying to turn the tables.

A small smirk crept onto his face as he watched her turn a bright shade of pink, "I—I didn't m-mean it like that! B-besides, you're avoiding the question."

He just sighed, there was no way to weasel his way out of this one, "I'd prefer a girl who is quiet, but not necessarily shy, does _not_ obsess over me and try to boss me around, and doesn't like me just for my looks."

She nodded, giving him an okay sign to go ahead and ask the question, "Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

Sasuke scowled, she wasn't going to let him ask that question again, "Fine, I dare you to stop stuttering whenever in my presence."

"Wh-what?" She asked in disbelief.

"Hey. I said no stuttering." He reprimanded her sternly.

"But it's not something I can just turn on and off! If I could, I would!" She pouted; offended that he would give her such a dare.

He gave her a cocky smirk, "I see we're making progress here." He said, referring to her lack of stuttering during her denial.

Hinata only crossed her arms across her chest, "Truth or dare?"

"Dare." He supposed he could trust her not to give him a ridiculous dare like kissing her or anything like that.

"Smile for me."

"_What_?" Sure the question was innocent enough, but seriously, _smile for me_?

"I…" She took a deep breath and tried not to stammer out her request, "…want you to smile for me." She looked flustered, perhaps hoping she didn't voice her actual question, but she said nothing more.

He watched her carefully, replaying her question in his head, each time he did, it began to sound even more ludicrous. He couldn't hold in the smile that was twitching at the corner of his lips, so just let it out.

Hinata gave a shy smile, "Now was it that hard?"

Honestly, it wasn't. It was maybe even better and easier than the first time, but he wasn't about to openly admit that, "Speak for yourself," He grunted and proceeded to ask the question, to which her answer was yet again dare.

"I dare you to…" He thought about it for a second then grinned at her (these smiles were coming almost _too_ quickly), "…tell me who it is that you like."

"B-but—but—" She spluttered.

"Ah, ah, ah," He wagged a finger, "No stuttering."

"That shouldn't count as a dare!" She wailed softly and tugged at his sleeve like a child forced to clean their room.

"You've already wormed your way out of this before, but this time you _have _to tell me." His grin was now triumphant rather than just pleased.

"Why do you care so much?" She asked quietly, her head lowered.

Why _did_ he care so much? Was it because he thought that she was so entertaining? Because her blushing face made him actually _want_ to laugh? He snorted, "Hey, this is _your _question, stop trying to delay the answer."

Hinata lowered her head even more and murmured quietly, "It's you."

Sasuke jolted up from his chair and pounced onto the table to crouch in front of her, "Repeat that." He ordered, wondering if he heard right.

She looked up at him through her thick bangs, "I said…it's you." Her face was red, but she wasn't embarrassed, she looked determined and firm. She looked…cut—

A warning bell rang in his head, screaming:

_YOU'RE AN AVENGER, REMEMBER? GIRLS DON'T LOOK CUTE TO AVENGERS._

"Ah…" He was at an utter loss for words; it was like waking up from an excruciatingly long coma, everything was finally clear now. He had already had all of the puzzle pieces, he had just been too stupid and lazy to piece them together.

"Please say something." Her voice was strained and even weaker than usual; it hurt him even more than when she had been crying at the cemetery.

"I…I don't know," He didn't bother adding on "what to say." because the words 'I don't know' fit for all of the other questions she hadn't asked.

She looked out the window once more, "It's gotten better now, I'll head back to the Hyuuga manor now, that way they won't notice I was gone the night." Sasuke craned his neck to see the window, it had indeed cleared up, the snow now just rested calmly in high hills instead of raging about through the wind

As she got up and headed to the hall, another, quieter, alarm rang through his mind, whispering:

_You know, you're never going to see her again it you don't stop her now._

Sasuke bolted for the door that was left slightly ajar as she had departed from his house and followed the trail of small footprints left in the deep snow, mentally screaming at himself for his stupidity, selfishness and bluntness.

The footprints stopped at the frozen lake where up ahead Hinata was sitting on the bridge, forlornly dangling her legs over the edge and swaying them back and forth.

She wasn't going to _jump_, was she?

Sasuke wasn't about to leave things up to chance, so sprinted and tackled her off the edge and cradled her head in his arms so as not to crack open her skull as they his the stone bridge.

"What are you doing?" Came Hinata muffled cry from underneath him.

"What were _you_ doing? You weren't going to jump were you? Do you know how_ lame_ that sounds?" He yelled back down at her, forgetting entirely why he chased after her in the first place.

"No I was not about to _jump_, for your information! I come here when I need to clear my thoughts!" The anger that was getting the best of her gave Sasuke the strength to mumble an incoherent "Oh.". Hey, it was better than her crying her heart out.

"Why are you here?" She asked, her voice and eyes finally giving into the sadness and weariness that she was feeling.

"I…I wanted to ask you something," He scrunched his eyebrows together, trying to find the right words.

"Can you first get off of me, please?"

Sasuke immediately jumped off of her and sat down in the snow across from her, already grieving the loss of her warmth and gentle scent, "I wanted to know…" He inhaled deeply, the exhaled, watching the clouds of breath mingle with the air, then vanish, "…if you loved me."

Hinata looked up, her face now a deep fuchsia as she shakily replied, "Yes. I love you."

Although Sasuke's face slipped a bit, his eyes smiled even brighter than his lips ever could, "Well I'm going to put it to you straight; I don't love you."

Hinata buried her face in her cold hands and took deep breaths, did he come all this way just mock and harass her?

His firm hands gripped her wrists, "But I do like you very much." He pulled her hands away from her blotchy face and brought his face closer, "So give me some time to know you better and love you back, okay?"

Hinata shouted joyfully and threw her arms around his neck, "Okay." She quickly unwrapped herself from him when she felt his body go rigid under her touch and teased, "That was an awfully mature thing to say." She gave a quiet and embarrassed giggle.

Sasuke drew her back into his chest and sighed, inhaling her scent, "Just give me time to get used to it." He looked down at her blissfully happy face and asked, "May I do something?"

She nodded. He bent his head down to lightly brush his lips against her forehead, cheeks, nose, and finally hovered slightly above her lips before drawing back panting.

She looked questioningly up at him with a heated face. Sasuke only buried his face into her hair and murmured again, "Just give me time."

The warning sirens blasting in his head were now pushed back; at the moment, he didn't care if maybe (though he was absolutely sure it wasn't true) Hinata was only in love with him because of his looks, he didn't care if he was supposed to be an avenger, avenging could wait. Right now he was only aware of him, Hinata, and the fact that he finally knew what it meant to smile and be happy.

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**To my lovely readers who actually like this fic, I WILL CREATE AN EPILOUGE!!**

**Ciao,**

**MissLe**


	6. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

He woke to the smell of disinfectants and disease and cracked opened an eye to squint at the blurry and blindingly white surroundings. Did he…_die_? He tuned in his hearing and listened to the quiet and steady beeping sound that seemed to belong to some sort of mechanical device. Did heaven (or was this hell?) use machines?

"So you're awake."

He turned his head slowly so as not to induce even more pain than he was feeling to see who was speaking. After a minute of blinking and trying to clear his eyesight, he finally could distinguish the slightly impatient character before him.

It was _her_.

The one whose face drifted constantly through his dreams, the one whose memory kept him from going insane, the one who he had left five years ago.

Hinata.

She had grown out her midnight blue hair so it cascaded in long straight locks down her back, her eyes were the same light lavender as before, though more severe and less submissive, and her body…let's just say Sasuke nearly had a heart attack after laying eyes on her…chest region.

"Hinata…" He was disgusted that his voice sounded even worse than a frog's croaking.

She ignored him and eyed him coolly, "As part of my job here at the hospital, I'm required to check up on you and tell you your current physical condition," She flipped the page of her clipboard and continued, "You have several tears in your lungs, numeral broken bones, far too many for me to all list, a large hole through you chest that barely skimmed your heart," She skimmed through the minor details and looked back up, "We've also depleted your chakra to less than one percent, so don't try and escape, please." With that she turned on her heel and walked back to the door.

"Hinata, wait…" Sasuke tried again in a hopefully louder voice.

She stopped but didn't turn around, giving him time to spit out what he wanted to say before his voice totally collapsed, "Please, Hinata…come back…"

She spun back around and stormed up to his bed and hissed, "'_Come back'_? You left _me_ for that snake bastard, who might I say, almost destroyed all of Konoha, remember?" She took a deep breath, willing herself not to get any angrier, "Besides, what makes you think that I haven't moved on to find someone else, huh?"

That to Sasuke stung more than any wound that he had already received. Did she move on? She couldn't have, that wasn't fair, she was the only reason that he stayed alive when Orochimaru put him through those vile experiments. He slowly shook his head and croaked, "You're lying…"

She only gave him a bitter look, "Good day, Sasuke." She walked over to one of the many machines in the room and pressed a small button that sent fluid through a tube and into his arm through a small IV. The sight of her leaving the room was the last thing he saw before he fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

He woke again, eager to Hinata's face again and try to convince her back to him, but was deeply disappointed to see a bright emerald eyes staring back at him with a mixture of relief, curiosity and grievance. 

"Hello, Sasuke." His former team mate gave a small smile and took out her clipboard, "Glad to see that you haven't died on us yet."

Sasuke took this time too quickly examine his ex-colleague; her vibrant pink hair was still cut short from the chunnin exam that he had last seen her at, though it seemed spikier and wilder than before, her eyes remained the same bright and cheerful green that he remembered, but her body seemed much more…modest compared to Hinata.

Usually he would have been surprised that Sakura wasn't dying to rip his guts out for trying to kill her and Naruto or for betraying the entire village, or even maybe slightly glad to see her again, but right now she was not the person he was hoping to see, "Where's Hinata?" He was glad to hear that his voice was no longer a croak, but a whisper.

Sakura pretended not to hear, "You've been healing quite nicely, the tears in your lungs are almost gone, at least half the bones have healed, and the large gaping whole in your chest is not so large and gaping anymore." She giggled at her at sad attempt at humour.

"Where. Is. She?" He gritted his teeth and drew out each word as loud as he could.

Sakura gave a deep and forlorn sigh, "Hinata had requested that I take her spot as the check up." She turned her gaze towards the window right behind Sasuke and murmured quietly, "You know, every single one of us were hurt in different ways after you had left, but I think Hinata suffered the worst out of everyone."

"So let me apologize to her."

Sakura smiled sadly and shook her head, "I'm sorry to say this, but it's going to take a lot more than just an apology for her to forgive you." With that she pressed the same button that Hinata had previously pressed and Sasuke once again fell into a deep, dreamless slumber.

* * *

Sasuke dreaded waking up again, each time he did, every fibre of his body screamed rejection to his wakefulness, especially when he had a pair of hands yanking him up off the bed by his collar. 

"Naruto! Stop! He's in no condition for that!" Sakura's cries were heard somewhere in the background.

"Naruto?" Sasuke groaned and opened his eyes into slits, "What the hell do you want?"

"I want an explanation!" Naruto roared and gripped the collar tighter, lifting Sasuke even further off of the hospital bed.

"Explanation to _what_?" The tension between the two young men still hadn't disappeared even after five years apart, in fact, it had gotten even rockier than before.

Naruto roughly dropped him back onto the bed and seethed, "_Everything_!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Everything is too much. You have to give me _some_ place to start, idiot." He weakly attempted to right himself up so he was propped up onto his bandaged elbows.

"Fine." Naruto spat out and grabbed a chair to drop down onto, "Begin with why the hell you appeared out of no where at the Hokage tower carrying around the head of that snake bastard, Orochimaru, then conveniently decide to go into a three month coma just as we are about to arrest and interrogate you."

Three months? Was that really how long it had taken for him to awake? Sasuke gave up trying to ignore the pain shooting up into his elbows and fell lightly back against the bed, "Two years ago, I ran away from Orochimaru to escape being used as a human puppet and went to find Itachi and train on my own.

"A year ago I found him and we fought…" He said, not caring to elaborate on the gruesome details of the battle, "In the end I won, just barely. It took me half a year to be able to heal fully, and after that I went to fight Orochimaru. By chance, I won again." He was itching to just pull out all of the IVs right then and there, "I brought back proof that he was dead so that hopefully, you guys would let me come back to my…my home."

Naruto's blue eyes softened and he stood up, "Okay. I guess that I'll question you some more later."

"Wait." Sasuke said, stopping Naruto in his tracks, "I have some questions for you too."

Naruto turned around to sit back on the chair, "Depending on the question, I suppose I can answer."

"Does…" Sasuke began, taking a deep breath and exhaling, "…does Hinata actually have another…someone?"

Naruto's eyes flashed in red, "How dare you even ask about her? Do you know how hurt she's been?" He moved to lunge at Sasuke, but was stopped by Sakura's slim hand on his shoulder, "Naruto, wait."

She turned to Sasuke with a stony look, "I've tried being nice to you to you, and although I think I agree with Naruto, I also think that this might work in Hinata's favour too." She sighed and continued, "Hinata has not even gone as so much as a date since you've left."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, remembering how he felt when he laid eyes on her when he first woke up, "I find that hard to believe, with that…that body, she looks like the object of any straight man's wet dream." He said bluntly, trying not to give into the grief that was tearing at his heart.

"I didn't say that she wasn't _asked_ out on plenty of dates, I just said that she hadn't _gone _out on any."

The joy that was shooting through his veins was barely containable, "Really? Why not?" He asked in his normal monotony.

Naruto growled, "Well, though I _really_ have no clue as to why, but every time we asked her, she would always mumble the same reply, 'Because it's not him.'" He grumbled quietly and snuggled closer to Sakura's comforting hand on his shoulder.

Had Sasuke not been feeling so ecstatic, he might have cared that it seemed that Sakura actually liked having Naruto close to her now. He looked out the window behind his bed and remembered the countless whores and prostitutes that Orochimaru sent him; each one he had turned away snarling at Kabuto or Orochimaru, "It's not _her_."

"Naruto," Sakura's concerned voice woke Sasuke from his train of thoughts, "why don't you go and take a walk around, I'll take care of Sasuke." She gave a shy smile, to which Naruto grinned roguishly and pressed a quick kiss to her lips, "Try not to be _too_ soft on him, Sakura-chan." He quickly scampered out the door and shut it behind him with a loud slam. Sasuke was one hundred percent sure he had done that just to rattle his nerves.

That last little act of affection actually _did_ catch Sasuke's attention. After Sakura had finally finished scanning the room of anything that was not Uchiha Sasuke, Sasuke gave her 'what-took-you-so-long' look and said, "You guys took long enough."

"Shut up." Sakura muttered and pretended to skim through her clipboard and look as nothing had transpired between her and Naruto.

Sasuke only rolled his eyes, "Fine. Whatever, I won't ask any more about you two, but I will not stop asking about _Hinata_."

Sakura gave a quick glance in the direction of the door and then sat down in the seat that was previously occupied by Naruto, "Look, Sasuke, things are and were slightly more…complicated with Hinata than I bet they were with you."

She bit her lip, debating on what to say, "After you had left, she had gone into one of the worst states of depression that I had ever seen; she wouldn't eat, she would barely sleep, and she never told anyone. It was one mission that we found out that she was hurting herself when she just collapsed from starvation and exhaustion. I think that the only reason she began eating again is because we almost died trying to save her during that mission.

"Did you know," She began again, "that no had ever seen her cry after that one mission? She's barely shown any signs depression and all, the only way that we know she's suffering is because Neji told us that every night he can hear her sobbing through the walls.

"Hinata deserves a lot better than what she's gotten." Sakura whispered, "And I know plenty more people here who've had to have been physically restrained from storming in here and killing you right away _just _for breaking Hinata's heart."

This information pained Sasuke even more than when he had been told that she had been seeing someone. It hurt him to know that the one who he had devoted his whole heart to was hurting so badly because of him. He asked Sakura in a tortured voice, "Please, Sakura, I want to see her so badly." He hoped his begging would break through to her finally.

Sakura turned her head away from him, "The first day that she found out that you were here, she ran screaming into the room and began to hysterically shout orders, sobbing the whole time. After you were in a stable enough condition, she began to come in here and talk to your comatose body, fix your pillows and crying to you, never once getting furious or angry at you." Sakura bit her lip and kept turning her gaze towards the door, perhaps expecting someone to come in, "She just…missed you."

"How do you know this?"

Sakura blushed, it was obvious that she had been eavesdropping, "Never mind that, the point is, she still comes to see you even when you're capable of being awake. Well not _capable_, just in a steadier condition."

She gave the door one quick glance before quickly saying, "Listen, everyday at five o'clock, she comes in and visits you. Because I think this might help the both of you, I'm going to let you stay awake until she does; but I'm going to warn you, your body might be in a lot of pain now that you're awake."

She stood up and began to leave before giving Sasuke a small genuine smile, "What you do when she gets in here is entirely up to you, whether you totally screw this up, is also entirely up to you." She walked to the door and opened it, "I would suggest pretending to be asleep and disguising your chakra level until she arrives." He could hear her quiet "Good luck." through the door just after she left.

* * *

Hinata quietly opened the door and set a vibrant display of flowers in a glass vase beside the metal hospital bed and sat down beside the unconscious body, absentmindedly stroking the palm of the hand. Looking around the room she smiled slightly, "Well, it looks like most of the machinery is gone now; you heal pretty quickly, huh Sasuke?" 

She gently rested her head on his chest and looked up at his calm face, whispering, "I know I've said this a million times, but why'd you have to leave?" She snuggled her face into his chest as if ashamed someone would see the tears that were falling down her face.

"I wish you didn't go, I wish you didn't go…" She kept chanting over and over again like a mantra of sorts. She looked back up at his face and gently began stroking his relatively unscathed cheek, "I hate that you left, why did you have to?"

His head slowly turned to press his dry lips against hers, startling her beyond belief. She jumped away from him and half snarled, "Wh-why are you awake?" her chest rising rapidly and distracting Sasuke momentarily.

Sasuke tried to give a smile and pushed away the rejection he was feeling, "It's good to see you again too, Hinata."

"Don't talk to me." This seemed to be too much for her, her eyes that were beginning to well up again with water kept darting towards the door, searching for an escape route.

"Don't leave. Please." He begged and held out an expectant hand, "Just talk to me at least, yell at me if you must, I don't care. Just stay." He noticed her unwilling look and pleaded once more, "Humour me."

"This sounds like something I might have said before you…before that time." She muttered to herself, not wanting to speak of his disappearance at all. She crossed her arms, ignoring his outstretched hands and stiffly sat down, "What do you want me to say?"

"I guess it's not really about what I want you to say, it's more of what you are willing to say." He said, chuckling softly and no longer caring about keeping his cool façade; hell, she had been the first one to see through it already.

"So…how do you feel?" She asked awkwardly and bent slightly closer to fluff up his pillow, just as any nurse would do, "Do your wounds hurt at all?"

Sasuke gave a grim smile, "Of course, every fibre of my body is telling, or more like shrieking painfully, that I should give up talking to you to go to sleep." He admitted and fluttered his eyelids just to make sure they still worked.

"Then I'll go and—"

"Stop." He tightly gripped her wrist and gently pulled her back onto his chest, paying no heed to her struggling and beet red face, "I didn't say I wanted you to go, did I?" He took her palm and carefully put it on his cheek where it had been before, "I…I don't want you to leave. It'll hurt more." He had found before that it was damn near impossible to beat around the bush and avoid saying his feelings to Hinata, she always managed to find a way to weasel the answer out of him anyways.

"Stop, please, Sasuke." She pleaded and slowly slipped her fingers out of his, but made no move to remove her head from his chest.

Sasuke made a noise that somewhat resembled a growl, "Why do you do this? I've been told that you come in here all the time to visit me; and just now, you said that you missed me." He tore his gaze away from her, "I missed you a lot too."

She pressed her face into his chest and took deep breaths, "I do it because I…I don't want to be hurt again." One hand she used to entangle her fingers with his, and the other she used to wipe away the tears, "But I don't want to be away from you for another second." She cried quietly into his chest, relieved to be comforted by his gentle and reassuring squeezes he kept giving her hand.

Sasuke tenderly brought her closer to his face and swiped away the tears that were falling down her face, "Good. At least I know that you weren't cheating on me." He gave her a grin that was almost equivalent to Naruto's roguish grins. Well, equivalent in Sasuke's terms.

"Don't." She buried her head in the crook of his neck and mumbled, "Don't joke like that. You don't know how much it had hurt me after you left."

Sasuke clenched her wrists and brought her tear streaked face up to his, "You think that it was easy for me?" He hissed, "Do you know what hell I endured while I was with Orochimaru?" He placed his forehead against hers and whispered, "It was even worse than hell."

More tears began to spill from her eyes and she broke into a new fit of sobs, "But you _chose_ to go! You_ chose_ to leave me!" She closed her eyes, "Promise me, that you'll never leave me ever again. I don't know if—if I could live through it."

He gave her a half grin, "So…you do want me back?"

She nodded against his forehead and he fully grinned, "Well, if I have to promise you something, You half to promise me something," He brought his lips to hers and held that position for a few moments and broke away, smiling at her shy smile and pink face, "Promise that you'll smile for me."

* * *

**-Authoress begins to cry tears of joy- YES! I've completed a story that's longer than a one shot! –Blows kisses to lovely readers and audience- Thank you every one who's been patient with me and giving me those warm fuzzy reviews!**

**Ciao,**

**MissLe**


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